Troubled school ‘making progress’
ASCHOOL that had been slammed by Ofsted is heading in the right direction to come out of special measures.
Reddish Vale High School received a damning report from Ofsted in February when inspectors judged the school to be inadequate in every area – pupil achievement, teaching, behaviour and safety of students, and the leadership and management.
Inspectors felt that students were unable to achieve the higher grades because they were not suf- ficiently challenged.
But a recent monitoring visit has shown that the school is now making ‘reasonable progress’ towards the removal of special measures.
Following the visit the government inspectors commended the leadership and management of the school and noted the expertise of the new governing body.
The school were praised for the improvement in the quality of teaching and pupil attendance had also shown a marked improvement.
Headteacher Colin Short said: “We’ve come a long way in the last 12 months. This is testimony to the determination and dedication of all our teachers and learners.
“I’m immensely proud of the progress we’ve made and know that the firm foundations now in place will lead to better outcomes for all our children.
“There are still areas for improvement and with the continued commitment of the entire school I am confident we can meet the remaining challenges.”
The school gauged the opinions of its pupils and parents through a survey.
They discovered that students now felt more challenged in classes and behaviour across the school was much better.
Parents also felt that their child felt safe, is happy and making good progress at the school.
Pete McCaldon, chair of governors, said: “Governors felt it was important to capture the views of both pupils and parents along with looking at the data illustrating progress made in teaching, learning, behaviour and attendance. The inspectors’ findings are borne out by what the pupils and parents tell us and we’re confident this augurs well for the future.”
The Co-operative Trust school gained academy status in February 2012.
Its predecessor school, the Reddish Vale Technology College, was judged good in 2011.